Unexpected Faces

Luke 10:25-37

July 27, 2014

Harmony Presbyterian Church

Dr. Robert Wm Lowry

This sermon was begun as an exercise in a seminar at the Engle Institute of Preaching.  I own a debt of thanks to the other participants for their insights and feedback. 

Jesus has a way with stories. It is like he reaches into a box of Legos and manages to build the Taj Mahal with whatever he finds there.  He takes our expectations and turns them upside down.  People do unexpected things, stories have unexpected endings, and what we think at the start is the moral of the story rarely is.

The story we have this morning is no different.  And like others of Jesus’ parables there are a lot of doors we can use to get inside.  One of those doors, the one I want to invite you into this morning, is right in the middle of the Samaritan’s face.  He is our way in this morning.

It is the Samaritan’s face that gives us a glimpse of what God is doing here.  That probably seems odd since it is the Samaritan’s acts we most often focus on. After all this is the parable of the Good Samaritan not the parable of the Samaritan’s face!  But bear with me.

So, there he is lying in a ditch beside the road.  Beaten and now penniless, this unnamed traveler has lost everything. After hearing footsteps come and footsteps go, someone finally stops to help!  He must have been incredibly relieved when he finally heard the sandals of one passerby start coming closer rather than just keeping on keeping on down the road. 

Help was at hand.

So he opens his eyes and what does he see?

A Samaritan.

A Samaritan!

It must have been disorienting because Samaritans don’t stop!  Samaritans don’t help!  Samaritans just don’t care!  Right?

Still, the face he sees, the face carried by the feet that did not walk on by, is the face of a Samaritan. 

Needless to say it was an unexpected face to see in that moment.

When it comes down to it, we all have Samaritans. People who have given us every reason to believe that they would keep on walking down the road. People who have given us absolutely no reason to expect anything but the worst from them.

Samaritans come in all shapes and sizes in our lives;

The guy who is fine with you making 70 cents on the dollar.

The person who crosses the street when they see you coming.

The person who would sooner tear you down than build you up.

We all know some Samaritans.

Can you picture yours?  Can you see the face of that person; the one you know will just pass you by?

Let’s go back to thar road for a minute.

Close your eyes and go back with me to that ditch. 

The robbers are gone and they have taken everything; your wallet, your dignity, your feeling of safety.

Lying there in the ditch naked you try to move your legs but they are just too sore.

You try to lift an arm, but the pain from the fists and the kicks keeps you down.

The pain in your ribs makes it hard to breathe and the pain in your head is building by the second.

Footsteps get closer and then drift away as passerby after passerby leaves you there.

Until finally, a pair of feet come closer and closer still.

A hand on your shoulder- a comforting word- your heart stops beating so fast because finally a friend is there to help or at least a friendly traveler.

You breathe a bit easier, you begin to calm down, and slowly you open your eyes to see the face of your savior…

…a Samaritan.

The face looking back at you is the face of your Samaritan who takes you in their arms, carries you to safety, tends to your wounds, ensures your well-being and defies every expectation you ever had.

Kind of like God does.

God works through unexpected faces in unexpected places.

That is one of the miracles and mysteries of the faith that keep it interesting!

It happens throughout the story of God’s work in the world; God using unexpected people to do God’s work and tell God’s story.

Joseph, despised by his brothers, tossed down a well, taken as a prisoner, and left for nothing eventually becomes the second in command and rescues his family from their suffering.  Joseph’s is the unexpected face of a hero.

Or what about Deborah?  In ancient Israelite history women rarely have names let alone good stories, but Deborah was a general.  And not just any general, but a general who manages to lead her people to victory when no one else could do it.  Deborah’s is the unexpected face of a leader.

Then there is Mary.  Young, just married, inexperienced in the ways of the world and wanting nothing but to set up housekeeping with her fiancé Joseph.  But an angel appears and tells Mary that she is carrying a child.  And not just any child, but God born into the world.  Mary’s is the unexpected face of the mother of God.

And there is the Samaritan.  The sole passerby who actually stops and tends to the wounded man.  He stopped when Samaritans don’t stop.  He helped whom Samaritans don’t help.  His was the unexpected face of a neighbor that day.

That is just how God works.  In unexpected places and unexpected faces. 

Sometimes those unexpected faces are worn by the Samaritans in our lives; those people whom we have given no reason to expect any better from us.  Sometimes God uses Samaritans to reach out and show us what it means to be a good neighbor.

We all have those Samaritans, don’t we?  We all have a face we least expect to see in our moment of need.

And if we are honest with ourselves; if we are really honest with ourselves and with God, I think we have to admit that along with the Samaritans we have in our lives, we are ourselves, sometimes, the Samaritans in other people’s lives.

Can you see that person?  The one you just can’t quite connect with?  Can you see that person?  That person whom you have disappointed or failed to quite see as your neighbor?  Can you see the face of the person who, looking up from a ditch after a robbery, would be at least a little surprised to see you lending a helping hand?

Let’s go back to the road that day; that dusty, lonely road.

Like so many in the ancient near east, this road feels like the hottest one you have ever walked. 

With every mile the air is drier, the dust is thicker, the journey seems longer than you expected.

The load you are carrying seemed light in the early predawn when you left home.  This wouldn’t be too bad a trip.

Of course that was before the noon day sun came up and started to bake the earth like your mother’s bread. 

As you trudge on, the load that seemed so light in the early morning has gained some heft with the noonday sun.

There is nothing in the world you want more than to stop and get a drink of water.  Or wine.  Or whatever will get your tongue from sticking to the roof of your dry dusty mouth.

This walk cannot end soon enough. 

Eventually you see a familiar landmark.  You’ve walked the road enough times to know that it is not too much further along the way.  Light at the end of the tunnel.

Then you hear it.  The faint groaning of…something.

A wounded animal you guess.  You feel sorry for the farmer whose livestock is injured but you have places to be.

As you get closer the groaning gets more familiar.  It isn’t a sheep or a goat.  It’s a man. 

You glance over at the side of the road and sure as the sun is in the sky, a man lies beaten in the ditch.

Now, this is really not your concern.  It is not your problem.  You are not the county ambulance service but something compels you to walk over and check on him. You are compelled by compassion the parable says.

You walk over and give him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, tell him that he will be alright and begin to lift him off the ground. 

Just then his eyes open and he sees your face; a look of surprise in his eyes.

But…you’re a Samaritan.

Who’s Samaritan are you?  Who is it looking up at you from that ditch?  In whose life might God use YOU to be an unexpected face?

Sometimes part of being surprised by God’s use of unexpected faces in unexpected places is letting one of those faces be our own. 

Sometimes we are the man in the ditch and sometimes we are the Samaritan.

In all times, it is the God of love and grace and hope and friendship and promise who is working on and through us.

So be ready for the unexpected when God works in your life.

And be ready to be the unexpected when God calls you to work in the life of another.

Amen.